Blog 5
Continuity with Lines
It is very important that you learn your lines and in the right order, I can’t stress this enough. So many times the actor has said they have learnt their lines but this is not usually the case, they think they know them but they don’t. When learning lines at home you are in a comfortable environment, but out of that environment and put yourself in front of the camera the actors are under more stress and mistakes are made. They always say they know them but I say to them please if you think you have memorised them go over it another hundred times. You need to know your lines as you can say your name, so you don’t have to think about it? It really can affect your performance as I see far too often, the actor is searching for words instead of making sense of them and not concentrating on delivering the right emotion etc. If they do not know the lines then the quality of acting is going to suffer. I hope that makes sense.
I have to say this does not apply to all actors.
How does this affect the editor?
If the actor gets it right on some takes but on others it can vary from getting the words mixed up to substituting different words.
So when it comes to editing in the editing studio and we realise what has happened it can become complex indeed and we have to find clever ways to cover up the mistakes made. Please let me try and explain by using a simple script and the consequences when the actor changes it.
The actor gets it right a number of times on some takes and then on others he gets it wrong for example;
Correct Script
Actor 1.
Are we going out tonight, let’s go to the Pizza Place? We will have a good time there!
The actor now changes the script
Actor 1
Are we going out tonight for a pizza? We should have a good time.
So in the editing suite we start on a wide shot and then cut to a close up on the word ” to”. So it then reads:-
Actor 1 (two separate shots)
Are we going out tonight let’s go to for a pizza? We should have a good time.
So if we start on a wide in which he gets it right and then we want to cut into a close up in the middle of that sentence you can now see we’re going to have a problem. This is because the words are different and not in the right order so that leaves us with two options. One where you the actor probably misses out as we instead do a close up of the shot with the other actor who is not saying anything but we would then probably stay on them with your words being said off camera. Or we would have to use another shot of Actor 1. which we probably didn’t want to use, that is if we have one?
So hopefully you can see more clearly how NOT knowing your lines can affect not just the edit but also your performance. Time and time again when on set actors say to me
“Oh just got a little muddled with the lines but it will be fine.”
Well the answer is yes it does matter and no it will not be fine. You must know your lines so put in the work and effort beforehand.
Also some actors are unaware they are getting the lines wrong. I really don’t know what to say about this!
There are now some great apps online that can help you with line learning. So my suggestion is that you take a look at them and use them.
So hopefully this has given you an insight and idea what goes on behind the scenes.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to get your lines right and to focus on what you do and how you carry out your directions and action.
Please think about the bigger picture. If you are an actor who knows his/her lines the chances are you will be booked time and time again because you are making everybody’s else’s job so much easier.
This is based upon my experiences only.
Finally I wish everybody all the luck in the world.
Alyson
